A NEW children’s play area and a history and conservation project are on the agenda for a park group.
Elmdon Park Support Group is hoping to bring the community together with its latest ventures.
Top of its wish list this year is to gain charity status.
Group secretary Jean Hamilton said that would enable bidding for funding to help other projects at the park.
She added: “The park can be a place of peace and tranquillity, a meeting place, a place for families to make memories, to play, to have fun, to picnic, to sledge, to walk your dog, to walk, jog or run, play football, exercise or to discover the local history.
“Elmdon park is vital in itself as a green space, free to access. It’s the largest park in Solihull and the most varied- it has something for everyone – lakes, playgrounds, history, an historic church.
“We have a number of projects lined up. Short-term ones like improving the children’s play area but also longer term ones like looking into the park’s history and park conservation.”
Jean said there is a play area at the Tanhouse Farm Road park already but it needs updating and equipment for older children as well as the younger ones.
The group would need to have plans firmly in place before applying for funding, she added.
The group started in 2009 and over the past decade has run a number of events at the park, including a celebration for the park’s oldest resident – a Spanish Chestnut tree which turned 500 in September.
A member of the group also leads historical walks through the park.
It has also teamed up with Warwickshire Wildlife and other conservation groups and taken part in hedgehog research to find out if the park is home to some of the prickly creatures.
The group is holding a meeting on Wednesday (January 16) at Hatchford Brook Golf Club on Coventry Road from 7.30pm and all are welcome.
